Who is the most expendable member of the Minnesota Wild?

While we do have some influx of young talent coming through the ranks, most are still pretty raw. I would say at this point, Granlund is the only for sure to be on the big club next year and that is if he even signs with the team.

Some of the others you mentioned still have a ways to go, at least right now, before they make it to the NHL. After this year in college, I’m not sure there will be much left for Coyle and Zucker to prove at the NCAA level, they should be Houston bound. Same with Phillips at major junior. From all accounts, Larsson will probably be Houston bound as well. Brodin is an interesting case, already playing at one of Europe’s highest levels, he may come to Houston too. What will be important and interesting is seeing all these kids together in Houston, winning and losing together so that they become a team there and transfer that to the NHL one day.

As for players we will lose, we need to keep a veteran presence on this team for the youngsters to learn from as well. I don’t think Lats will be tendered another contract when his expires after this year. I would expect that Cullen would be traded sometime during his contract year unless he is needed by the Wild for a playoff run. Bouchard would be trickier to move during his upcoming contract year due to his concussion history and higher salary, but I do not expect him to be tendered another contract. Backstrom is an interesting case. When his contract year is approaching, I wouldn’t mind seeing him resigned as the backup for Hackett, but I doubt he would agree to that. Harding is probably gone after this year, maybe during this year if he can get enough starts to showcase his talents for certain teams in need of goaltending, Tampa, Phoenix (how good would he and Tippet be together?), etc. I think the Wild will resign Brodziak, great third line center, penalty killer, totally underrated and a good guy to have on the team as well.

This is all if all these prospects continue to develop as we all hope. The reality is that some won’t live up to there potential. A guy like Zucker can light up the NCAA but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a third liner with some scoring upside in the NHL. A team needs guys like that too. I would say the only for sure right now is Granlund, and it worries me that he has not signed especially after the whole Tim Erixon ordeal in Calgary.

All prospects can turn into nothing, that’s a given. Coyle to me seems to be a poor man’s Toews. Does all the little things right, dominates the two way game and is very underrated offensively. The kid has amazing vision and loves working along the boards. Gotta love that he gives it his all every shift also.

Haven’t caught a game with Larsson or Brodin but like what I hear.

I dont think there is anyway granlund goes down to houston. Not with what he has shown he can do already in the SM Liiga. He is already dominant there in his three years and the strength of that league and the AHL are very comparable. In fact i read 3 different study about 4 months back trying to figure out which league was better, 2 had sm liiga as better. He has nothing left to prove at that level of play.

First, while they both play/played in the NCAA, they come from different backgrounds. Fontaine put up inflated numbers in the AJHL which is a “B” level junior league in Canada. Zucker came to college from the U.S. Development program in Ann Arbor which originally played in the NAHL (tier 2) and in his last season there moved up to the USHL (tier 1). The U.S. program is pretty much training for international competition which Zucker has taken part in whereas Fontaine has not. They are relatively the same size but Zucker is a better skater and has more grit to his style than Fontaine. UMD and DU are much different programs and while both play/played on stacked lines in college, Fontaine didn’t really take off until he was paired with the Connollys (although Fontaine is showing at Houston that he can score too). Lastly, Zucker was drafted for a reason while Fontaine was a college free agent signing. That isn’t to say that college free agents aren’t worth signing. Matt Read (BSU represent!) is living proof that getting college free agents is worthwhile. Then again, so far Casey Wellman is proof that they aren’t.

Zucker is still raw but after this year in college, I’m not sure there will be much more for him to learn at the NCAA level. He still needs to decide what type of player he will be as a pro, a scorer on the second line or grinder with some scoring upside on the third line.

This being year 1. It seems that the Wild will start seriously turning over their roster at that 3 year mark. We should see Granlund, Larsson, Zucker, Coyle, and maybe Brodin, turn Pro/come over here next year, in year 2. As Bulmer proved this year, if any of those guys go out and absolutely make the team, in a position that fits their style and role, they’ll be every chance for them to do that. However, it won’t be easy for them to do that. Most of those guys will spend some time in Houston, to either adjust to the grind of pro hockey, or to adjust to North American hockey. It will allow the Wild to get these kids playing together, trying to get them to develop and build a team mentality.

This year, the Wild will have to make a decision on Gui and Brodziak. Gui will be a RFA at the end of this season. It’s anyone’s guess, at this moment, what the Wild do with him. It will depend on how he plays over the next several months, and if he can keep himself on the ice. Playing well and providing a solid power forward presence on the second line, there is no one exactly lined up behind him to take over that job next year. Brodziak… he’s a team guy, gives it his all. I think he’ll be back if he’s willing to sign a team friendly deal. Zanon will be gone after this season.

Year 2 is the final contract year for Bouchard, Cullen, Clutterbuck (RFA), Zidlicky, Backstrom. Year 2 will be a year of evaluation and positioning. If the team isn’t pushing for the playoffs, you might see a whole lot of players being moved to make way for the young guys. If the Wild are pushing for the playoffs, the team will be in an interesting position. They should have cap space, but they’ll have a lot of ‘key’ guys heading toward UFA. Would they hold serve and see what they can do, while not getting return on those UFAs. Do they look to add, taking a rental for a prospect they might have deemed secondary? Who knows. Way too far out to worry about.

Year 3, I say Bouchard, Cullen, Zidlicky, and probably Backstrom, are all gone. Heatley, Setoguchi, Schultz are in their final years. The team will have a lot of cap room for moves. There will be a lot of spots open for anyone who can step up and take them, and fortuitously there will be a lot of young guys fighting to take those spots… we just have to hope that some of them have developed into the players we need to fill those spots.

There is no rush to start moving players, and there is no need, right now, to making final determinations about who should stay and who should go. The team has to aim for balance, young and veteran, skilled and blue collar. The can’t bank completely on the development of prospects, because prospects don’t always make it, and quite often fall a bit short of projections. When a kid forces the team to keep them on the roster, great. Until that time, I hope they try to ice a competitive roster with what they have.